


Out of the Woods

by CasiplesCastle



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Felicity Smoak, F/M, Felicity is Talia al Ghul, Protective Oliver Queen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 03:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20923322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasiplesCastle/pseuds/CasiplesCastle
Summary: Three tours in Afghanistan later, Oliver finally comes home for good. Felicity Smoak has a terrible secret and it’s catching up with her. Slade, Shado, Sara and Diggle are only here to tell Oliver they told him so. AU.





	Out of the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is a plot bunny I've had for years and I've been waiting for someone to write it. Alas, I have not found it. Yet. So, I thought might as well write one. Feel free to comment what you think.
> 
> This story is based from Taylor Swift's "Out of the Words." It's part of my special Arrow!verse playlist.
> 
> Disclaimer: Arrow is not mine. All characters belong to DC.

Oliver could never really believe how lucky they’ve been to defeat Ivo and commandeer the half-damaged freighter, sail it all the way to Hong Kong and come home after almost two years of being stuck in that godforsaken island. Slade, Shado, and Sara had only been too happy to finally have decent beds to sleep in and not have to hunt or scavenge for food amongst the undergrowth.

They sailed through the sea in rough waves, rationing like hell out of their meagre supplies. Slade and Shado locked the guards that survived their assault, while Sara and Oliver gathered those who died to be thrown out into the sea. They couldn’t keep the bodies on the ship, Slade had reasoned. It would only cause problems. Sara’s eyes were cold, colder than the nights they spent on Lian Yu, as she hauled body after body to be lugged off board without so much as a word. Oliver didn’t want to think too long or hard on why. After how things had settled down between all four of them, now that they were in control and heading back into their lives, Oliver didn’t have anything else to say either. He wanted to keep his mouth shut lest it all turns on them and this is all just a dream.

If it was, then Oliver wanted to dream forever.

Shado took mercy on the wounded and had given those they couldn’t save a quick death instead of allowing them to continue suffering, prisoner and enemy alike. Those who were imprisoned on board were given care, food, water, and supplies if they behaved. All four of them made sure to run a tight ship, control only bestowed between their team. They worked in sync and made no room for anything else. Slade had given Oliver a strict warning about dallying. Oliver assured him that his _dallying_ had been left behind on the island. After everything, after nearly losing both Sara and Shado to Ivo, Oliver didn’t want anything else but to just go home. Especially since Slade was acting a little strange after the Mirakuru thing. Luckily Shado knew just how to keep him in check. Oliver made sure to make himself scarce whenever Slade would start to slip away, Sara right behind him. Shado always was the calmest and smartest of them. She promised Slade a cure when they return, that she wouldn’t stop until they found it. Slade would only take her hand gently and kiss her knuckles in gratitude. He’d be back to his usual grouchy self after that.

When Sara spent too much time on deck when the stars are out, Oliver decided to give her Laurel’s picture. It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do since winning their freedom but it had to be done. After seeing Slade with Shado, he thought long and hard if he’d ever seen himself look at Laurel like how Slade looked at Shado. If Laurel had ever seen the respect Shado’s eyes shined when she looked at Slade. If he had ever took care of Laurel with such gentleness like the way Slade took care of Shado even with the Mirakuru running through his veins.

The answer was simple: Laurel and Oliver never had those things.

Dragging Sara with him to hell had been proof of that. They loved each other, that will always be true, but Oliver didn’t think it was fair to hold on to that, particularly with a relationship he had salted and burned so thoroughly. So, he took the picture to Sara and gave it to remind her there’s someone waiting on the other side.

“What about you?” Sara asked, tears shining in her blue eyes. She held the picture close, away from his reach.

Oliver shook his head, cold seeping deep into his bones. He looked up at the stars when he said, “I don’t think we would work ever again. I don’t think it’s fair to want that. For both of us.”

Sara’s tears fell down her face and said nothing.

Oddly, Oliver only felt free.

Arriving at Hong Kong had almost been a disaster. Luckily, Shado’s level headedness won out once again and had managed to get them at least permission to dock their illegal ghost ship. The police surrounded them and Slade almost had a meltdown if Shado had not vehemently argued about being separated. They were going to stick together no matter what happened. Oliver dropped the big guns and gave them his name. Within hours, the authorities gave them the special treatment the Queen name often afforded, even if they weren’t sure that he was truly who he said he was.

When he could finally use a phone to call home, Oliver had a severe panic attack they had to try calling his mother a couple times. Hearing her voice, thousands of miles away, had been like breaking a dam inside of him. Shado had to steady him on the third try, finally managing to say something.

“Mom? It’s me.” he sobbed into the handset. His mother had broken down then, too. She would never forget the sound of Oliver’s voice. But she was still Moira Queen and composed herself quicker, her voice hardening to determination.

“Oh, my beautiful boy, wait for me. I’m coming to get you,” was the only thing she said before telling him goodbye and that she loved him. Oliver made sure to mention Sara before he hung up. The Queen jet could take her family quicker along with his to Hong Kong. He owed Sara at least that.

They were taken to a hotel after giving their statements. Shado and Slade had to feign their identities and hoped for the best, that they weren’t recognized on the local database on a random Hong Kong station. Afterall, Shado was still the daughter of a traitor and Slade was Slade. Oliver and Sara tensed all the way up to being told they were free to go. Each of them breathed a sigh of relief.

When the Queen jet arrived at the tarmac the next day, both Sara and Oliver’s family descended down the ramp and they hurled toward waiting arms. Laurel and Quentin Lance covered Sara in their embrace in tearful reunion from all sides while Thea, Tommy and Moira sped to Oliver. Each had enveloped him in their arms, their grip tight and strong, anchoring him.

He was _home_. He was finally _home_.

They introduced Shado and Slade to their bewildered families’ expression.

“I thought you were stuck in a deserted island?” Thea wondered aloud.

All four of them—Lian Yu’s standing survivors—looked to each other and smiled.

“It’s a long story.” Oliver said. “Not all of them good.”

“Some were good though.” Shado chimed demurely, eyes drifting back to Slade.

“Yeah,” Sara said, her voice rough. She took a deep breath. “Not exactly hell. Just… _purgatory_.”

Oliver chuckled while Slade rolled his eyes. Shado only prodded them to move forward.

As they ascended up the ramp, Oliver caught Laurel’s eye. In a brief, meaningful glance, words they both never would’ve dared to say were communicated and they knew it was over. Too much history, too much guilt, or too much distrust, Oliver wasn’t exactly sure what it was.

Whatever they had was gone.

Oddly, Oliver only felt relieved.

…

…

…

Oliver had offered up Queen Consolidated and his family’s resources to fix Slade.

Slade had almost flown into a rage when he had proposed it and only Shado’s steady hand had prevented him from bodily throwing Oliver out the window of his and Shado’s fifth floor apartment. Oliver didn’t need much to convince his mother to help his friends. She had pursed her lips and agreed, eyes shining with possibilities he doesn’t want to think about just yet. He had immediately reviewed QC’s Applied Sciences division and spoke with the department’s director to assure them a cure was possible. It would take some time and study, but they could do it. After months of trials, they decided to branch out to Central City’s S.T.A.R. Labs. The brilliant minds of Dr. Wells’ young proteges were about to produce a cure within days to their company’s weeks long labor. Oliver couldn’t be bothered with his mother’s cooing about business ventures. He was only glad when Slade woke up after they administered the cure, his eyes calm and collected just as they’d been before the Mirakuru.

Sara had thrown them all a party by hosting a training session in a small gym deep in the Glades. She said she’d been boxing and training in all sorts of martial arts and she wanted to test herself to the real deal, begging Shado and later Slade to spar with her. Oliver had been busy with getting them pizza because Sara had forgotten a party needed food, throwing herself into honing her skills against the deadliest people both she and Oliver had ever met.

Listening to the sound of his friends training, a small part in Oliver found peace.

Two months later, Shado and Slade left for Australia. A week later Sara left to travel the world.

And Oliver was left behind with nowhere to go.

Tommy had tried to drag him back into their party lives and debauchery. God knows Oliver tried. He really did. But after almost breaking someone’s wrist in a club one night, he decided that it was a part of him that had died on the island. Tommy only accepted this with a smile and stopped inviting him to clubs. He started inviting Oliver to lunch instead where he relived his glorious drunken escapades or talked about his newest flame. Oliver only laughed at Tommy’s antics, feeling wistful of their shared past but he knew he was ready to move forward from all that.

He spent most of his time with Thea or volunteering deep in the Glades where no one really cared about his name, just that he was an extra set of hands in a random, overworked soup kitchen. His mother thought that getting involved with the company would be a better use of his time but he found he couldn’t sit still long enough to concentrate on the meetings. He didn’t feel like he belonged in the throws of business and politics. He wasn’t ready. It wasn’t for him.

Oliver is simply restless without the people who knew him best.

When Oliver had driven past a veteran’s center one day, he felt curious. He had ventured in hesitantly, feeling out of place yet familiar at the same time. There was something there, he knew it. He felt it. He took a few pamphlets home on his way out.

It only took a few days contemplating before he made up his mind.

He told his mother and Thea over dinner the same night he decided. Both of their faces had morphed into something akin to horror and disbelief.

“No, I simply forbid it, Oliver.” Moira commanded, trembling. “After all that you’ve suffered, surely you don’t think this would be the right path for you?”

“We just got you back.” Thea begged. “How could you just leave us after all we’ve been through?”

Oliver felt guilt coursing through him but he had made up his mind. He wants this. He has to do this. He can feel it. Much as he wanted to, he just couldn’t be the Oliver that they knew anymore, the Oliver they expect he would be again. He wanted something else for himself, something new. Something that would resonate with who he became.

“I want to do this, Mom.” Oliver implored. “This is what I want to do for myself.”

He reached for Thea’s hand which she took almost immediately. “I’ll come home. I promise I’ll always come home.”

“Promise me?”

“I promise.”

…

…

…

Five months later, Oliver was writing a letter home about his superior named Sergeant John Diggle from Starling City and how Oliver saved him on his first tour in Afghanistan.

…

…

…

A year later, Oliver wrote how he and Digg were thick as thieves and they would be visiting Starling for Christmas along with Digg’s wife Lyla.

…

…

…

On their third year on tour, Digg lost his brother.

That was when Oliver had decided it was time for both of them to come home.

For good this time.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

She tied the ponytail low on the back of her head, the artificial blonde of her hair glinting from the filtered sunlight of her window.

She took her glasses and put them on, checking her appearance on the mirror multiple times before grabbing her purse to head to work.

Trepidation settled on her shoulders like a shroud as she took her coffee and drove through the morning traffic, a feeling of uneasy she can’t quite shake.

Felicity Megan Smoak—the name she had chosen for herself—knew something strange would happen today.

She just wasn’t sure if she’d be enthusiastic about it.


End file.
